Antique & Vintage Postcards

A miniature accordion-fold souvenir booklet — its paper cover held shut by a tiny brass eyelet and string — unfurls to reveal a ribbon of black-and-white photographic views of Venice: the sweeping panorama of the lagoon from the Campanile, the ornate façade of the Chiesa S. Marco, the Gothic arcades of the Palazzo Ducale, and further landmarks beyond. Titled Ricordo di Venezia (Souvenir of Venice), this leporello-style keepsake was mailed in a paper envelope postmarked Venice in early 1907, then forwarded through Dublin and Edinburgh via Thomas Cook & Son — the great Victorian travel agency — to reach a Mrs. A. R. S. somewhere on her Grand Tour itinerary. The envelope is stamped in Italian STAMPE (printed matter rate) with a handsome Italian 10-centesimi rose stamp bearing the portrait of King Vittorio Emanuele III.